The Children's Minister says childcare providers closing their doors today is 'unwarranted' and 'unfair on children'.
500 members of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) have taken the decision to shut down their Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) services today.
The group is also holding protests in Cork, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Dublin calling for more funding for ECCE services.
However, Roderic O'Gorman says the government has 'prioritised investment' for the sector, but the FECP says Minister O'Gorman "pushed through Core Funding plans without proper consultation or planning".
The federation says ECCE-reliant services cannot survive without a capitation increase.
The federation says the programme creates "a massive administrative burden on all services, it is taking providers out of the classroom completely. We are Educators, not admin staff."
